This invention relates to damper means for the door such as of a cassette housing in a cassette tape recorder, to be used for the purpose of abating the shocks produced in consequence of the opening and closing of the door.
Generally in the conventional cassette tape recorder, the cassette housing is so constructed that the opening of the door thereof is effected by manipulating an ejector button thereby allowing the cassette housing to fly open by the resilient force of a spring, for example, and the closing thereof by just pushing the cassette housing down against the resilient force of the spring thereby allowing the cassette housing to snap into position. In the construction wherein the opening and closing of the door are effected by such means as a spring or a lever, for example, the door is destined to produce vibration and shock whenever it is opened and closed. At times, the impacts of the repeated opening and closing of the door have eventually reached the extent of producing adverse effects upon the delicate quality of the recorder. In the circumstance, there has recently been disseminated a practice of adopting damper means of some sort or other for use in the mechanism for opening and closing the door of the cassette housing in the cassette tape recorder.
Dampers of various constructions have been proposed for this purpose. For example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 90116/1979 discloses a door operating mechanism which comprises a cylinder rotatably mounted in the body of the recorder, a rod piston pivotally attached to the door of the cassette housing and encased together with a spring within the same cylinder, and a viscous substance contained within the cylinder for the purpose of abating the impact of the motion of door opening and closing; Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 52878/1980 discloses a device wherein a braking rotator mounted on the pivotal shaft of the door and adapted to be expanded outwardly by the centrifugal force of the rotation of the shaft of the door is encased within a stationary drum, and at the time that the door is opened or closed, the braking rotator is allowed to expand and slide on the inner wall surface of the stationary drum and consequently apply brakes to the motion of the door opening or closing; and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 75805/1980 discloses a device wherein a braking member is encased within a cylinder fastened to the body of the recorder and an engaging shaft is interlocked with the braking member in such a manner that the shaft keeps an effectively meshed engagement with the braking member in one rotary direction thereof and an idle engagement therewith in the other rotary direction, whereby brakes are applied to the door when the door is opened and no brakes are applied when the door is closed.
The conventional damper means including those cited above invariably use many component parts. These component parts tend to have complicate designs and, consequently, are difficult to fabricate and assemble. These damper means inevitably turn out to be expensive and susceptible to mechanical troubles during service. Thus, various faults have been found with the conventional damper means.